Marton Village, Warwickshire

Local History Group: February 2019 Update

Leamington Hastings Church

In February the Group had a (morning) visit to Leamington Hastings Alms Houses and church. This included the talk about the church’s restoration which was originally planned for the March meeting. Many thanks to Joan S. for organising this.

This means that there will no longer be a Group meeting in March and the next meeting will be on April 29th, 7.30pm in the village hall. This will be the Group’s AGM (free entry and free glass of wine), followed by Group members giving a presentation on “recent finds in the museum”. Do come along to the AGM so you can share your thoughts and ideas about meeting topics for the next season

Local History Group: January 2019 Update

In January the Group were entertained (yet) again by Susan and her father Neville with their continued story of the history of the vicars of Marton. The (new) slides from this talk are at this link.

There is no meeting in the hall in February, instead there is a morning tour around Leamington Hastings (Alms Houses and Church). Provisionally meeting in Leamington Hastings at 10.45am. Please contact Joan Sherratt if you wish to attend and she will let you know about the definitive arrangements.

The next meeting in the hall is on 25th March.

Local History Group: November 2018 Update

At the October meeting David Fry (pictured) gave a talk about Princethorpe based around early 20th century photos. A summary of this talk is on the website at this link.

The next meeting will be on Monday 19th November at 7.30pm in the village hall (note NOT last Monday of the month), at which there will be a talk by members about their National Service experiences. All are welcome, entrance fee £3, including a glass of wine.

Local History Group: October 2018 Update

The new season opens on Monday 29th October at 7.30pm in the village hall. At this meeting there will be a talk by group members about “Hidden Princethorpe” (streetscape changes during the 20th century). As usual, all are welcome, entrance fee £3, including a glass of wine.

The full programme for the season can be seen on this page

(Photo: Mrs Quinney, Princethorpe chimney sweep)

World cyclists in Marton

Ovo Energy Tour in MartonOn 5 September some of the world’s top male cyclists – including Olympic and World Champions, and Tour de France winners – sped through Marton in glorious sunshine on the fourth stage of the Ovo Energy Tour.

On the way from Nuneaton to Leamington (on a north, south, north route via Chipping Camden) the cyclists were heading towards the end of a punishing 183.5km day, the second longest stage in the 8-day race. Residents put out bunting and flags to make the competitors feel welcome for the first time the male tour has included a Warwickshire section.

Large groups of residents and enthusiasts, who travelled here especially for the race, cheered encouragement as they raced on by at speeds of around 40km/h. Others may have been cursing their luck of being stuck behind the main road closure, which at least only lasted about 15 minutes. This was to accommodate the field of more than 100 cyclists, which included three of the top five-ranked riders in the world:

• Britain’s most successful Grand Tour rider Chris Froome (world number two and 2018 Giro d’Italia winner)
• Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (world number four)
• Welsh hero Geraint Thomas (world number five and winner of the 2018 Tour de France)

Marton was also treated to seeing Slovenian Primoz Roglic, Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Germany’s Max Schachmann and many others in a breath-taking blur of lycra.

This video captures some of the action.

See all the results on www.tourofbritain.co.uk